The number of “recommended” servings of fruits and vegetables has been all over the place. WebMD states:

“Under the U.S. government’s latest food guidelines, five servings of fruits and vegetables may not be enough. Adults need anywhere from 7-13 cups of produce daily to get all the health benefits of fruits and vegetables — including possible protection against obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.”

The general rule I follow came from the TNT Diet Book: The most successful weight loss is achieved by eating 5 servings of Veggies a day. Since Fruit is – except for a small amount of berries – not Carb friendly – I focus only on Vegetables.

They reported on a recent study tracking the health benefits of eating Veggies and Fruits.

An international team of researchers spent 2003 to 2013 recruiting 135,000 participants between the ages of 35 and 70 from 18 different countries. Participants were routinely quizzed on their frequency of eating various foods so researchers could ascertain their fruit and vegetable intake. Fruit juices and potatoes (and other tubers) were excluded from their analyses.

The researchers took into consideration their sex, education, smoking status, and physical activity. They followed the participants for between 5.3 and 9.3 years, while checking specific health parameters every 3 years.

What They FoundEating a combination of fruits, vegetables, and legumes lowered the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer, as well as the overall risk of death.

None of that is new, but they found the greatest impact for people who ate between 375 and 500 grams a day, with an overall reduction in risk of death of 22%, compared to those who ate less than 125 grams a day. Eating more than 400 to 500 grams a day didn’t confer any additional health gains.

How much is 375 grams – 500 grams – about 3 to 5 servings. And we are back where we started.

I’ve been maintaining my weight loss and my positive blood work eating VLCHF for the last 10 years. Sometimes I’m in Ketosis – sometimes not. I no longer pay much attention. But – I usually get in 1 serving of veggies with breakfast – and 3-5 between lunch and dinner. Always – no – of course not. But It averages out to 4-5 servings a day.

InterpretationHigher fruit, vegetable, and legume consumption was associated with a lower risk of non-cardiovascular, and total mortality. Benefits appear to be maximum for both non-cardiovascular mortality and total mortality at three to four servings per day (equivalent to 375–500 g/day).

Does this new study change anything – NO – but it is nice to know that I’m on the right track.

I’ve previously written about jessemaa’s experience with going Very Low Carb High Fat – a/k/a Ketogenic diet. He is a guy who participates in the 52 Day Challenge. His wife has been an insulin dependent Diabetic for the last 25 year. She is now managing her diabetes almost solely with diet. She is doing this under a Doctor’s supervision – smart Lady.

Others on the 52DC have mentioned that they are pre-diabetes or in the earliest stages. Jessemaa put forth a discussion post to provide some of his and his wife’s experiences with going Ketogenic. Here is the Linkto the Discussion.

I find it interesting to hear other people’s experiences with eating VLCHF, especially since it has now become a popular diet for our celebrity crowd.

My friend has lost 34 pounds and is almost back to her wedding weight. Her 12 yo son is down 18 pounds and looks fantastic. His doc was shocked.

Still – there is so much miss information, such as ketones are the cause of the weight loss – so take supplements that produce ketones in the presence of carbs and lose weight. Really? Might as well try Snake Oil.

Take a few minutes and read thediscussion. Then take a couple of more minutes and tell us about your experience.

Saturated fat does not clog the arteries: coronary heart disease is a chronic inflammatory condition, the risk of which can be effectively reduced from healthy lifestyle interventions

There are a huge number of opposition posts -including this one from Science Alert. I chose that one since it has a number of links to other material.

This battle will continue until real assessments can be accomplished. Even then – how do you control what people eat over a lifetime? How can you set up two groups with only one variable differentiating them – when it comes to eating – and let’s not ignore exercise and other lifestyle activities?

I eat a substantial amount of saturated fat – if you compare my diet to those who eat low fat and avoid saturated fats. But – they are not eating Very Low Carb – and they are not eliminating processed foods – and they are not limiting added sugar – and they may not be exercising 6 days a week – and – and……….

Still the belief that you can actually determine that saturated fat is always the devil’s spawn goes on.

The Low Carb Program of Diabetes UK has been extraordinarily successful in going against the general advice of the Diabetes establishment. I signed on for a short time to see what they are about. Very helpful – very structured and it is free.

A recent Article entitled: Low-carb diets should be reinstated as pillars of diabetes control, suggests new study by Camille Bienvenu, she summed up a recent editorial:

In a recent editorial, published in the online journal Diet, Nutrition and Mental Health and Wellbeing, two members of the not for profit organisation Nutrition Society have assessed the strength of evidence in favour of low-carb diets for diabetes management.

Perhaps the most important statement: “Over half of those who consumed only 14 per cent of their total energy requirements as carbohydrate, compared to 53 per cent as per current dietary recommendations, could also safely reduce their medication.”

I had previously posted about one of the Challengers from the 52DC -Jessemaa. His wife was put on a VLCHF diet by her physician. She has been an insulin dependent diabetic for over 25 years injecting 70-90 units of insulin per day. From mid-December to mid-January she reduced her dependency to only very small doses of 8-10 units of insulin 5 times to deal with a high morning test. He recently reported that she is no longer using insulin.

We can only pray that her success continues.

As a side benefit – Jessemaa adopted the same diet – they have both lost weight.

On March 12, 2007, I started eating Very Low Carb – High Fat (VLCHF) Normal Protein. The sole purpose was to lose some weight. I ended up losing 80+ pounds. My wife and I found that eating this way actually fit our life style and tastes a lot better than Low Fat or Weight Watchers. As we became adapted to this form of nourishment and meal preparation things went beyond mere weight loss. I’ve discussed much of this in prior Blog posts, but some deserve re-telling, in no specific order.

In order to avoid Carbs, we went from eating a multitude of Highly Processed foods to just a limited amount. Even as Atkins and others have become the new WW with their highly processed products, we significantly limit our use, preferring whole foods.

Our blood work – from all directions has become just plain Super.

My mild case of Psoriasis has become almost – but not completely – gone.

I no longer get heart burn.

I rarely get headaches.

My ability to fend off “colds” has been surprising.

I’ve maintained my weight loss for over 9 years – something I have never been able to do before.

To what extent these are solely due to eating VLCHF or Weight Loss or Exercise – OR a combination of all three, I don’t know. I do know that having lost weight and exercised heavily in the past – that I did not have many of these results.

Oh – and yes – I have become the Answer Man for so many others who head down this path.

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Your workouts and diet should enhance your life, not become your life.

A Bit About Me

On March 12, 2007, I adopted the Low Carb lifestyle and started exercising. I was 62 and weighed in at 260 pounds.

In November 2007, I discovered the Men's Health TNT Diet.

In the summer of 2008, I found the 52 Day Challenge.

This Blog is a log of my journey. Today - I weigh 180 +/- pounds. I have posted pictures of where I started and where was after two years of work. Check my Two Year Anniversary Pictures.